Couple back home safe after Peruvian nightmare
PAIR RELIEVED TO BE HOME AS PERU SITUATION IS GETTING WORSE BY THE DAY
IT was with no small measure of relief that Andrew Cotter and his girlfriend, Marie Barry, finally touched down on home soil at Cork airport last Monday evening.
The couple were among dozens of Irish citizens repatriated from Peru after they were stranded in the South American country when it went into complete lockdown under martial law, in a desperate bid to stem the flow of the COVID-19 virus.
Last week Mitchelstown native Andrew told The Corkman how he and Marie, from Conna, who had been on an eight-month trip around the continent, were under virtual house arrest in a hostel in the city of Cusco – a 20-hour road journey from the Peruvian capital Lima.
At the time, they were hopeful that efforts by the Irish Embassy in Chile and the Department of Foreign Affairs to bring them and other Irish nationals back home on an emergency flight would bear fruit.
He said after being informed the flights had been given the all-clear, they and 15 other Irish nationals from Cusco undertook the arduous journey to Lima on a packed bus – leaving no room for any form of social distancing.
As Lima airport is closed, they were taken to a nearby military base and, following security checks, boarded one of two planes packed with foreign nationals bound for London’s Heathrow Airport.
Andrew said the situation they left behind in Peru was becoming ever more fraught by the day, with further restrictions imposed as the number of deaths from the Coronavirus around the Cusco region began to increase.
“We were growing increasingly concerned that we might not be able to get home at all as the initial original quarantine period had just been extended to April 12. That is likely to be extended even further and the further it lasts the tighter the restrictions on movement will get,” he said.
“To be fair, once word came through that flights had been arranged things moved quickly.
“It was really well organised, and we can’t thank officials enough for the work they have done on our behalf,” said Andrew.
Despite showing no signs of illness upon their arrival back in Cork, the couple have gone into self-isolation just in case they may have picked up the Coronavirus either in Peru or on the journey home.
“While we both feel well and healthy, there was always the risk that we might have picked up the virus. So the sensible thing to do was heed the advice we were given by the HSE at the airport and go into isolation for at least 14 days,” said Andrew. “To be perfectly honest, after what we went through over the past couple of weeks, it will be a welcome relief,” he laughed.
Although the couple were unable to hug their relieved relatives when they got back to Cork, Andrew said both of their families were just relieved to see them back home safe and sound.
“There will be plenty of time for family reunions once we return back to what will pass as being normal over the coming weeks,” he said.